Nowhere Men
by Chicago103
Summary: The Borg, a man alone, and the ultimate question.


This is my first attempt at fan fiction. I look forward to any feedback. It contains "Endgame" spoilers.  
  
"Nowhere Men"  
by:  
Chicago103  
  
"If you care about the Federation, you will do this," Kassaro said.  
  
"This is happening for real!" Brian said. "Stop this macho Kirk act."  
  
Kassaro jammed the shuttlepod antimatter container under his left arm, and grabbed Brian's arm with his right hand. "Our ship is gone. We're trapped inside a Borg cube. The nearest help is hours away. Do you want the Borg to assimilate you and your knowledge?."  
  
"No!"  
  
Kassaro held his antimatter container directly in front of Brian's face. "This is the only way we can help ourselves and everyone back home."  
  
Before Brian could respond, the floor rocked, the lights dimmed, and the artificial gravity weakened momentarily. Somewhere within the cube, a passenger or crewmember from the Essex let the antimatter in their container free. The Borg diverted a large fraction of the ships power to internal shields, protecting as much of the cube as possible from the explosion.  
  
In one of the Borg's antimatter storage compartments, Kassaro and Brian climbed back to their feet. The eight thousand cubic foot, green glowing dilithium crystal behind them, with its high concentration of antimatter particles, produced enough radiation to hide their lifesigns.  
  
"There are infinite possibilities, Kassaro. We can find another way."  
  
"You should stop that logical Spock act!"  
  
Brian turned away from Kassaro, picked up the other shuttlepod antimatter container, and slowly opened the hatch to the power source.  
  
"Well, we can implement only one of those possibilities," Kassaro said. "What do you suggest?"  
  
Barely above a whisper, Brian responded. "I'll use the tricorder to find another dilithium cube. When I get there, I'll contact you. Then, we'll simultaneously pull the battery packs from our antimatter containers. The explosions, combined with the release of the Borg's own antimatter, should be enough to overwhelm their systems, and destroy the cube."  
  
"That's my plan."  
  
"I know."  
  
Kassaro did help everyone during the last moments of the Essex, after contact was lost with the bridge. It was his idea to strip the shuttlepods of their only defense against the Borg. As drones began beaming about the Essex, he used the emergency transporters to scatter the survivors throughout the cube, robbing the Collective of the chance to round everyone up for a quick assimilation. But he didn't have a rank. He didn't have a second of Starfleet training. He was just a mechanical engineer with an adventurous spirit.  
  
Brian pulled the tricorder out of his waist harness, nodded to Kassaro, and approached the door.  
  
"You'll make it," Kassaro said.  
  
Brian stopped and turned around. "Yes, I probably will." He turned back to the doorway and left the green glow of the antimatter storage room.  
  
At the intersection of two corridors, Brian slammed to one knee, as the floor fell and rose. Another person from the Essex chose annihilation over assimilation.  
  
Back on his feet, Brian secured the antimatter container under his arm, and used the tricorder to find the nearest dilithium cube. Thanks to the modular design of the vessel, he had three choices. Three hundred meters to his left, behind him, and above him were more dilithium cubes loaded with antimatter. He wouldn't let the Borg trap him in one of their elevators, so he checked the corridor behind him first. It extended nine hundred meters. Both sides were lined with alcoves. One hundred drones were regenerating. Another seventy were active, aiding the repair process.  
  
Brian turned ninety degrees to his right and checked the other corridor. Its length and appearance was the same, but one hundred eighty drones were in their alcoves. Only ten drones were active.  
  
"This is the one," Brian said to himself. The weight of the antimatter pod, and his injured knee, prevented him from running, so he walked as fast as possible.  
  
As he stared at the faces of the regenerating drones, making sure they stayed that way, envy began to creep into his mind. The Borg have encountered far more races and phenomena than the Federation, and every one of these people has that knowledge. But none of them even has the freedom to care.  
  
As Brian came to the first active drone, his eyes locked on to the drones head. Passing the drone on the right, Brian's head and torso turned enough for him to look directly behind himself, and he watched it recede into the distance.  
  
Looking straight ahead again, his panic level lowered enough to allow the weight of the situation to finally hit him. Some of the Federation's top scientist were being picked off within a cubic mile of him, either as a result of a matter-antimatter reaction, or by becoming one with the hive mind. Why? Because the Federation had to show off to a possible new ally by shipping him and twelve others off to a planet beyond their border. Now look at the result. The best case scenario has him dying in a matter of minutes. The worst case has him losing every ounce of his freedom.  
  
Brian took a deep breath to clear his mind. He needed Mary. He needed her to ground him. He needed her to stop the chaotic thoughts tumbling through his mind. He needed her to show him what science and logic couldn't.  
  
But he was certain of her fate. Brian had challenged the universe enough, doubted the force behind it enough, that he knew punishment was coming. Mary was probably one with the Borg, watching him through the ships sensors and the eyes of the drones in this corridor. Both of their lives will end soon, but Brian will spend the rest of eternity regretting bringing Mary on the Essex, and causing her to experience existence as a Borg for any length of time.  
  
Brian's death might have to wait. After he successfully passed eight active drones, the ninth began walking directly toward him. Brian stared at the antimatter pod under his arm and formed a plan. He brought the cylinder directly in front of his chest, with the particle ejection nozzle facing toward the drone. With the drone twenty feet ahead of him, Brian pressed three buttons on the side panel. A minute amount of antimatter streamed out of the nozzle. A narrow line of intense heat formed between Brian and the drone, as some of the particles came in contact with the air. The force of the exploding air, combined with the relativistic speed of the antimatter, allowed the remaining particles to penetrate the screens of the drone. Almost instantaneously, a bowling ball sized crater formed in the drones chest. It was blown back with enough force to knock out the tenth drone, thirty feet behind.  
  
"Thanks for not enforcing your moral rules as much as your physical rules," Brian said to no material being.  
  
With the last two drones out of the way, Brian rushed into the antimatter storage compartment. Sitting in front of the large, dilithium cube, Brian began to think of the possibilities. First of all, how was it possible for them to run into a Borg vessel? The Essex received word a week ago that the starship Voyager returned home, and destroyed a Borg transwarp hub in the process.  
  
There must be many Borg vessels scattered across the galaxy near former endpoints of transwarp conduits. All of the vessels are probably heading back to Borg territory in the Delta Quadrant. By assimilating some of the races in their path, they have the ability to create tentacles of Borg activity stretching to the edge of the galaxy. If Kassaro's plan works, this cube wont create a tentacle leading to the Federation.  
  
Before he could tap his combadge to implement that plan, the door opened and two drones came in. Brian sprang to his feet, antimatter container in hand.  
  
Since his antimatter phaser worked better than expected, Brian decided to see what else he could do. "Stop right there!" he said, holding the antimatter container out to make sure they recognize it from its earlier uses.  
  
"You will be assimilated," the walking drones said in unison.  
  
"You are inefficient. I can help you, but you can't assimilate me."  
  
"We are the Borg. You will be assimilated."  
  
As the drones continued advancing on Brian, he stepped backward, eventually bumping into the dilithium cube. Before he used the antimatter one more time, Brian decided to start a conversation he thought about for many years.  
  
"I know it will take you decades to get back to Borg territory now that the transwarp network is gone. I have technology that will allow this ship to get back in less than a month. Then, all of the ships of the Collective can swarm the galaxy under their own power. But if you attempt to assimilate me, I'll let this pod explode."  
  
The drones stopped walking. "We need your warp technology, and your ideas for creating the perfect cybernetic society."  
  
Brian's legs went numb, and he almost fell forward. He had told only one person about his ideas for creating a free cybernetic society. If the Borg knew, his fears about Mary were a reality. He opened the battery pack hatch of the antimatter container with enough force to crack one of the hinges. But he had to try one last plan to save her. Keep them talking.  
  
"Agree to listen to me in five seconds, or I'll pull out this battery pack," Brian said.  
  
"What are you offering."  
  
Brian stood up straight. "A question. Why do you suppress the individuality of the people you assimilate?"  
  
"Individuality is irrelevant," the drone on the right said.  
  
"Can you elaborate?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Brain waited for a response and nothing happened. "Do it!" he said. A chill came over Brian. The Borg were like an intergalactic computer, and he was at the controls.  
  
"Individuality slows the advancement of civilization. Each person has their own limited goals, as insignificant as growing organic foods to as important as developing their understanding of the universe. As a whole, civilizations with individuality are unfocused.  
  
"We are focused. We are all working on the most important goals, together. We are all advancing at the same rate. We are outpacing all other civilizations."  
  
"Do any of you care about that?" Brian asked.  
  
"Caring is irrelevant."  
  
"Elaborate."  
  
"Deduction is the most efficient way to advance our knowledge. Emotion has no place in deduction. Emotions distract people from making logical decisions. So emotions are irrelevant."  
  
"What is your ultimate goal?"  
  
"The attainment of perfection, and allowing everyone to experience it."  
  
"How will you know when you have attained perfection?"  
  
"When nothing can harm us, and we can do anything."  
  
The doors to the compartment opened and Brian's nightmare walked into the room. Mary was still wearing the light blue dress she wore this morning, but he could see nanoprobes crawling under the skin of her arms and lower legs. A star shaped implant was clamped to her right cheek. Gray pigment was spreading through her skin. Mary's face was like cement.  
  
Brian stepped forward, his arm outstretched, with the intent of physically ripping her from the hive mind. After two steps, he stopped, and decided to put an end to her misery. He wrapped his fingers around the antimatter container's battery pack and began pulling, then he shook his head.  
  
It was no accident that brought this Mary to him. If the Borg wanted to distract him, this was the way. But he knew he had to continue, and he asked his last question with tears in his eyes.  
  
"What will you do when you attain perfection."  
  
No answer.  
  
The vibration of the cubes warp drive decreased and then died. The lights turned off, and then the artificial gravity followed. The only light was the glow of the dilithium cube. The drones and Mary remained anchored to the floor. Brian floated to the door.  
  
Like a wave, similar events spread across the Borg Collective as every processor not devoted to life support was used to find the answer.  
  
Brian flew through the doorway, and began to head back to Kassaro's compartment. At the other end of the corridor, Kassaro was floating in a green shaft of light just outside of the room. Through Brian's combadge, Kassaro said, "What happened?"  
  
"Just come down here."  
  
Reentering the compartment, a smile grew on Brian's face. His plan might work. As biologically and technologically advanced as the Borg are, their basic goal is nothing more than survival. The "hive mind" is a fitting expression. Mentally they're nothing more than bees.  
  
Much slower than the Collective did, Brian considered what they were considering. In the future, there will be nothing but Borg. Chaos and ignorance will be conquered, leaving no unanswered questions. But it will also bring an end to their activities. Can the Borg spend the rest of eternity doing nothing? That's not efficient. If you're going to do nothing forever, why exist at all? Logic doesn't provide an answer.  
  
Will these bees evolve and realize the possibilities free will provides? Will the great computer continue to search for an answer, like the last number in pi?  
  
Brian floated down and placed his face directly in front of Mary's face, and spoke through her. "Will you stop searching and ask me for the answer?" 


End file.
